Tales of Symphonia: Dark Future, Bright Past
by Scorch the Hedgehog
Summary: A man goes from a destroyed world in the future, hoping to save the future by changing the past. Can one man really make a difference, when all he loves is gone? Spoiler Warning! Also, time travel and plot changing. No pairings yet.
1. Prologue: Beginning of the End

Hey! Good evening, I'm Scorch, and welcome to the first chapter of my new fic, ToS: Dark Future, Bright Past!

Disclaimer: I don't own ToS, Namco does.

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**Prologue:** The beginning of the end...

The sky is an angry red, and the moon can't be seen behind blood colored clouds, the area around is a destroyed wasteland, and the only thing standing are a few dead trees and two men. One has dark brown, nearly black hair, wearing dark colored clothes and a black cloak with the hood up, obscuring his face. The other has silver hair, though it looks red in the light. He's wearing longer brown pants with a dark blue shirt, and a brown overcoat.

The man in black looked at the silver-haired one, and then begins speaking in a low voice. "So, you're sure that this will work, right?"

"I hope so. If it doesn't we don't have a chance anymore."

"Well then, let's get started and hope I don't die from this spell of yours."

"Right." With that, the silver haired man started concentrating, a grey magic circle appearing around his feet. "Okay, here goes everything! Time Rift!!!!"

With that, the air around the dark haired man begins to bend inward. He looked one last time at the silver haired man. "Good luck and try to stay alive, Gene."

With that he disappeared into the rift, barely catching the words of his old friend. "You too, Lloyd..."

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Well, off to an exciting start, with Lloyd going back in time. Next chapter, I'll tell you just what happened, and where everyone else is, and why Lloyd was the only one to go back. Until next time!

Scorch the Hedgehog


	2. Chpt 1 Major Changes

Right, so here's the real first chapter of ToS: Dark Future, Bright Past!

Disclaimer: I only own the spell Time Rift, but I may not own that...

Btw, "Speaking", 'Thinking'

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**Chapter One:** Major Changes, and a Fierce Resolution.

Pain. The first sensation Lloyd had was pain. After that he felt things he had no words for, and heard things he couldn't describe. Then, all of the sudden, it stopped. Lloyd, feeling brave, opened his eyes. It was night, and he was in a forest. Something seemed familiar about it, but he couldn't tell what. Then, he heard what sounded like a battle. He glanced around, checking all directions, but couldn't see anything. Suddenly, an enormous thing seemed to fall from above. It would have landed on top of him, if not for his angelic senses. He dropped into a combat stance, and then realized what he was looking at.

"Oh Martel, an exebula!?" He could only stare at the once human figure, but jumped to action when he realized it was alive. Talking himself through the process, he started to try to heal it. "Right, first I need to push in the exsphere." Doing so, he watched as the exebula began to move a little. "Damn, not much time! Right, so now that it's okay, I need to use a healing spell, like Resurrection. Okay, here goes!" With that, he flared out his wings and began the spell. "Heavens above, lend me your holy light, so that this soul might live on! Healing Light!"

A bright, pure light began shining from the wings, and as it did, the exebula began to return to human form. He stared at the figure in front of him, a woman about 28, with brown hair pulled into a ponytail, wearing a now partially torn red and white dress. That was when he recognized her.

'H-holy crap, Mom? But that would mean that I'm... Martel damn it all, I was sent back too far! Well, what's done is done, so I'd better find...uh, me and Noishe and get them to Dirk's house.'

With that thought, he put his wings away, picked up Anna, and started to carry her to where he knew the dwarf's house to be.

He hadn't gotten more than a few feet though, when he heard something rustling in the bushes. 'Crap, is it Dad, or is it one of the Desians? I can't fight them and guard her at the same time...' His fears were stopped when a large green and white animal emerged from the bushes, holding a small, sleeping child with brown hair in its mouth.

Noishe on the other hand, or rather paw, was on edge. He had just found Lloyd, and now he finds Anna being carried away by some unknown man in a cloak? Where was Kratos when they needed him? So, Noishe did the only thing he could: he let out an extremely threatening growl.

Lloyd stared at the growling Noishe, puzzled, and then realized what the problem was. He did look pretty mean in his cloak, and he as carrying an unconscious woman over his shoulder. He did what he thought was the smart thing for the time, negotiate. "Hey, can you understand me?"

Noishe, still wary of the unknown man holding his friend's wife, nodded.

"Okay, that's good. Look, I'm not going to hurt this lady here, I just found her, and was going to go find help for her. There's a house nearby, and I was going to carry her there. Is that kid related to her?"

Noishe nodded a second affirmative, and then motioned for the man to get going. He hoped Kratos would be able to find them...

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Just a few minutes later, the odd group had arrived at Dirk's house.

Dirk, on the other hand, was busy at his forge, and not expecting anyone, so it came as a shock to him when a series of loud knocks hit his door. He opened it, and saw a man in a black cloak, carrying a woman in his arms, and a large green dog carrying a small child. "Now just who're you, and what are ye doing all the way out here?"

Lloyd to the chance to talk, seeing as no one else could. "This woman's hurt pretty bad, and I've got now way to heal her. The kid is hers, and the dog is with them too. I've no relation to any of them, and I'm pretty sure that Desians are coming this way. Can you keep them here, while I go and lead them off?"

Dirk digested the quick rundown of the situation, and then reacted like most people would. "Right, just lay her down inside and the boy and dog can come in too. Now, what was that about the Desians comin'?"

Lloyd managed to keep himself from either panicking or hugging his surrogate father, whom he hadn't seen in years. "Look, we don't have time to talk. I'll go and lead off the Desians, just keep them here, and keep your door locked."

With that, he sprinted out the door, leaving the dwarf shocked that someone could be that willing to help someone he'd never met.

Lloyd knew exactly what he was going to do now. He was going to go out, live around Sylvarant for a few years, probably as a mercenary, and then find a way to join the Chosen's journey. From there he could find whatever set off the events leading to his present, and stop them. But, before that, he would have to make a new identity for himself. Well, that could wait until after he was safely away from Dirk's house and Iselia. After all, there weren't really any Desians coming, he'd just made that up to give a reason to get away. 'Well,' he thought to himself, 'I guess I get to go on the Regeneration journey again... This time though, things will end differently.'

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Well, there you have it. The end of Chapter One. Now, I promised that I'd explain about the future a little bit, so here's some backstory.

**Journal of Lloyd Irving. Keep out! That means you Genis. And you Zelos.**

Date: 3 A.R. (After Reuniting)

Three days ago, something happened. I'm not totally sure what yet, but there was a huge flash of light, and then the sky turned red.

(Following is two weeks after previous entry)

Now, I've heard that some cultists opened a door to Niflheim, the underworld. This doesn't look good, but I'm sure that since we've got four angels on out side, Colette, Yuan, Zelos, and Me, we have a pretty good chance of beating back the demons, and resealing them.

Date: 5 A.R. (Two years later)

We've hardly got a chance. Yuan was ambushed about a week ago and was killed. No one knows where Regal is but it's assumed that he was captured defending Meltokio. Sheena is gone, so we don't have any Summon Spirits to help us. Professor and Genis, no, Gene now, have survived, but, they are pretty worn down. Colette and I have found a temporary shelter in a small cave outside the ruins of Asgard, and I think we may be able to stay here a while. I know that the Living Armor, the "Supreme Ruler", is looking for us, because we can do the most damage to his troops, but I don't think that.... (Here the journal cuts off)

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There's the first of a few different backstory bits. I'll keep them coming as long as I get some reviews, so if you want to know more, click the pretty button marked review.

Until next time!

Scorch the Hedgehog


	3. Chpt 2 The Chosen and the Swordsman

Hey, if you're here, then that means...*gasp* It's time for chapter 2!

Okay, just to let you know, there's a brief time skip here, just to get things moving. The story's going to pop in a little bit before Future Lloyd, whose new name will be revealed, joins up with Colette's group, which is before they get to Triet. Oh, and Lloyd, past Lloyd, was three when saved him and Anna.

M'kay, here's a disclaimer: I don't own ToS.I just own the plot, and the Time Rift spell, and Future Lloyd, as he's my character. Wow! I own a lot!

Wow! Two reviews already!

TwiliSeraph: Well thanks a lot! It's good to know that my first review is a nice one. I hope you do keep reading.

Lupanari: Yes, you are right. However, I noticed that, and am explaining it away in this chapter. Personally, if I'd been moved back in time, my thoughts would be a little skewed too. So, my explanation is that he was out of it from the spell, and just went into basic "Hero mode".

Onihime 942: I'm glad I caught your interest. Personally, I don't like the Niflheim thing, but it was a good plot device, huh? About 's reaction, I've explained it.

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**Chapter Two: **The Chosen and the Wandering Swordsman!

Lloyd was thinking on his way back to Iselia for the first time in fourteen years. 'It's been fourteen long years since I saved Mom by accident. Fourteen years since I left Dirk's house that night and began my life as the Wandering Mercenary, Linus Irel.'

[Flashback]

Lloyd had finished sprinting away from Iselia when the full measure of what he had done hit him. 'W-wait, if I just saved Mom, then...' He couldn't even finish the thought before he just fell to the ground, not knowing whether to laugh in joy or just pass out from sheer emotional overload. He stayed on the ground for what seemed like hours, just thinking about his actions and their consequences, and what would change now.

[End of flashback]

'Now, the Chosen's journey should have begun, so if I get there in a few days, I should meet up with them, and... What do these idiots want?'

The last thought stemmed from the fact that he had come out of his thoughts to notice that he was surrounded by a group of about eight or nine bandits.

The leader, Linus thought he was the leader anyway, called out to him. "You're on our stretch of the road, so you've got two choices now: pay the toll of 500 gald, or lose your life!"

Linus looked calmly at the man. "And what if I choose neither?"

"Then we'll kill you, and take all of your money!"

"No, you misunderstand. I meant, 'What if I decide to attack you and your group?"

"Ha! You're outnumbered nine to one! You wouldn't have a chance."

When that sentence left the bandit's lips, all Linus could do was smirk and say, "Really? Well, I guess I'll have to try my luck then!" With that, Linus unsheathed his sword, and charged the leader.

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Meanwhile, with the Chosen's group...

The group was moving quickly towards Triet, having left Iselia earlier in the morning. Kratos was walking at the point position, keeping an eye out for any monsters that might attack. Raine was keeping an eye near the back, (which would seem like an odd job for the healer, but then again, Raine isn't a normal healer.) Colette was walking in the middle of the group, staying in between Kratos and Raine, but she wasn't really thinking about the journey at that time. No, the blonde Chosen was thinking about how she had lied to Lloyd and left him in the village.

'Oh, I hope Lloyd can forgive me for that. Maybe we could go back and get him... No! I don't want him to get hurt, or see me...'

The Chosen was so lost in her thoughts, that she almost missed Kratos' warning.

The stoic mercenary gestured for them to stop. "It sounds like there's a battle going on up ahead. It would be best for us to go around."

Colette, on the other hand, had different thoughts. "Maybe someone is fighting monsters up ahead. We have to go help them!"

Kratos, though wishing not to, nodded. "As you wish Chosen. But, do try to stay back with Raine. It wouldn't help anyone if you were too hurt to regenerate the world."

Raine, following quickly behind, voiced her opinion on the matter too. "Colette, we really shouldn't do this, what if it turns out to be an ambush?"

Luckily for them, unluckily for the bandits, they arrived near the end of the fight. What then saw though was almost unbelievable. A man wearing an open dark brown jacket with a grey undershirt, long dark brown pants, a black cloak, and had a silver arm guard on his right arm and was holding a thin sword in his left was standing in the middle of a group of eight dead bandits, glaring fiercely at the last one.

Linus raised his blade, allowing the sunlight to shine off it, and quietly spoke to the bandit leader. "You really should have run away when I gave you the chance, but I guess it's too late now." With that, he finished off the last bandit, quickly wiped the blood off his sword, and sheathed it in one practiced movement.

Linus then sensed the mana of three people watching him from on top of a small rise not more than 20 feet away. He turned to look at them, and then could only stare in shock as his mind processed what he was seeing. 'D-dad... And Colette and Professor!' He was hardly able to restrain himself from running over and hugging all three of them. He settled for giving them a curious look, and asking, "And just who are you guys?"

Kratos looked suspiciously at the cloaked swordsman and seemed to be about to respond when, "Oh, My name's Colette, and I'm the Chosen of Mana." Kratos sighed, knowing he'd have to give the Chosen lessons on when to give out her name and title later.

Linus knew a chance when he saw one, and he wasn't about to let this one get away. "Wow! You're the Chosen of Mana?" He walked towards them keeping the expression on his face a mix of surprise and disbelief. "That's a huge coincidence then, because I was hoping to meet the Chosen. I was hoping that I could assist her in her journey. My name's Linus, by the way."

Both Raine and Kratos were examining the swordsman closely. Raine felt like there was something really familiar about him; she just couldn't place her finger on it. Kratos was of the same opinion, though she didn't know it. He could tell that the man was an experienced swordsman, and that he had been holding back on the bandits, despite having killed them. Just as he was about to voice his opinion, Raine cut in with her questions. "You said that you're a mercenary, right"

"That's right, and a good one at that."

"So why do you want to help us? What if we don't have payment?"

"What? What kind of jerk would charge to guard the Chosen?" He noticed that Raine gave Kratos a sidelong look, which he met with a glare. "And anyways, even without pay, I'd get some good publicity so it would make up for it."

The sliver haired "elf" stared at him, still suspicious, and then made her decision. "Fine then, we'll let Colette decide. She is the Chosen after all."

Linus gave a half-smile, "Fine then. Chosen, what's your decision?"

Colette looked a bit flustered, as all eyes turned to her. "Um, well, it would be good to have more people; after all, Kratos would get tired being the only person fighting up front."

Linus broke into a full grin. "Well it's settled then! I guess I haven't fully introduced myself. I am Linus Irel, swordsman for hire, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

Colette smiled back at him, feeling in the back of her mind that she'd seen his face somewhere before. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Colette, the Chosen of Mana, and this is Raine, my teacher from Iselia and Kratos, another mercenary we hired."

Kratos seemed annoyed by the turn of events, and Raine was still studying Linus. She looked perplexed, and she could swear he was familiar, if she didn't know she'd never met him before. However, his name bugged her for another reason. "I've heard your name somewhere before. I remember someone with a name like yours involved with the Desian attack on Palmacosta a few years ago."

Linus moved his gaze back to Raine, "Yeah, I was in Plamacosta when it was attacked, and I helped the militia beat back the Desian forces. It's good to know someone's heard of me."

Raine finally let go of her suspicions, for now at least. "Very well. You can travel with us, at least for now."

With that, the group set out for Triet, now with a new member in tow.

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Here's the next backstory bit:

Message to Supreme Overlord:

Today, we've made a breakthrough in our research, sir! We've been able to adapt some of the more resilient humans into hunters like you asked. The strongest out of the original batch is a pink haired human girl, with abnormal strength. We've chosen her to be the leader of Hunter Squad One. Half of the batch died, unfortunately. One among them was a promising human with long blue hair. His was one of the more unusual deaths, as he had broken his bonds and had attacked the guards using the enhancements we gave him. The unusual part was that he kept calling for an "Alicia" the entire time, up until the failsafe kicked in. We will keep you informed of any other developments.

All hail to the Supreme Overlord!

Head of R&D

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Okay, that's all for now. And now you know what happened to two of the group in the future. Well, until next time!

Scorch the Hedgehog


	4. Chpt 3 One Death, One Life

Well, here I am again, with the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own ToS. If I did, I'd be rich, and not writing this. Oh well!

Five reviews this chapter! Hope the number keeps rising!

Lupanari: Oh, you'll see. You'll see... *insert maniacal laughter here* And yes, it wasn't the bandits' day at all.

TwiliSeraph: I don't plan to reveal for a while now, so don't get your hopes up. Sorry!

freakyanimegal456: He did, as you'll see this chapter.

Onihime 942: I was going for intriguing for this chapter, so I guess I hit the mark! As for Kratos, you'll see...

PinkPenguin18: Do keep watching, it might do a trick... But keep reading too! XD

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**Chapter Three: **One death, and One Life.

_He was on the ground and couldn't move. Above him, the blade began to fall, its only intent to end his life. Suddenly, a flash of gold, then red. He realized what had happened, too late to make a difference. He opened his eyes slowly, praying to whatever goddess was up there that he was wrong. He wasn't. Colette was standing above him, sword pierced through her chest, and the demon's head on the ground from her chakram. Lloyd could only stare at her in disbelief as he laid her on the ground. She turned her head slightly, "Lloyd, I don't think I'll make it, that sword had something on it, and I can feel it eating away at me already." Lloyd looked destroyed at this, "No, you can't die; I won't lose another member of my family!" She just stared at him sadly, "I'm sorry Lloyd, but it's not possible... Please Lloyd, try to stay positive, and don't just throw your life away." She could tell she didn't have much time left, "Lloyd, don't forget... I'll always... love...you." With that, Colette Irving-Aurion, one of the last angels on the destroyed planet, and only remaining Chosen, died. Lloyd could only stare at her fallen body, "No, please no! Colette!!!"_

Linus snapped up in his bed in a cold sweat. He looked around, taking a few seconds to figure out where he was. It was then that he noticed his roommate, Kratos staring at him with one eyebrow cocked. Linus looked at him, embarrassed. "Sorry, just a nightmare... a really bad nightmare."

Kratos kept the stare on him, "By the way you were tossing and turning, I'd suppose so. You seemed extremely anxious."

Linus gave him a dirty look. "Well if I was, it's not your problem." With that, he rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep.

Linus would never know, but Kratos had been having some turbulent thoughts himself. Unlike Linus' they centered on the life of his wife, not her death.

[Flashback!]

Kratos had just entered the village alongside Colette and the rest of the group, as Raine, Genis and Lloyd had caught up with them. They were about to head back towards Colette's house when a man called out to Lloyd from by the school. "Hey Lloyd, Anna came by here a few minutes ago, she said to tell you to get home quickly if we saw you!" Lloyd looked sheepish and worried at the thought of his mother looking for him, and the rest of the group, except Kratos, just sighed, as it was common for Lloyd. Kratos? Well, he was somewhere between stunned, in disbelief, shock, and that emotion that makes you go "Dwah?" However, he managed to keep his features schooled, and glanced over at Raine, "So this happens often?"

She looked at him with a small grin on her face, "Yes, quite often. Lloyd will forget to tell Anna that he was going to do something, and she'll panic and get most of the town looking for him."

That proved it for Kratos. Lloyd was his son, and beyond that, Anna was alive!

Later that night, at Lloyd's house, [AN: Lloyd and Anna live with Dirk, this is for my convenience more than anything...] after the argument between Lloyd and Dirk, Kratos got the chance he thought he'd never have again. He managed to get a conversation with Anna, if only a short one. "Hmm... that grave over there, who is it for?"

The brunette woman looked over at the mercenary, and said quietly, "It's for the man who saved my life. He found me and brought me to Dirk's house, but then went back to check if there were any more Desians following us, and never came back."

Kratos, despite being thankful to this unknown person, was still crushed that his wife had no recognition of him.

Anna, on the other hand, continued to speak, "I never actually saw him though. The only person who did was Dirk, and I doubt it would have mattered, because I couldn't remember anything from before that night, other than Lloyd being my son."

With that, everything came together for Kratos. The transformation into an exebula must have done so much damage to her body that her body must have used every bit of mana it could to sustain her, and it must have caused her to lose her memory. But, it didn't help his feelings at all. If he had been anyone besides Kratos, he probably would have broken down crying. But, he was Kratos, so he managed to keep his features straight, praying that one day, she'd remember him.

[End Flashback]

In the morning, Linus' mood hadn't improved much. It was visible to the entire group, but only Raine and Kratos thought to leave him alone about it. Colette, on the other hand, thought that it was probably a good idea to try to see what was wrong. As she approached him, she could see that he was holding onto a small gold ring on a chain. She finally worked up the curiosity to ask him about it, "Um, Mr. Irel?"

Linus glanced at her for a minute, "Please, Chosen, call me Linus."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was wondering, what is that ring for?"

Linus thought for a minute, trying to school the reaction to tell her not to apologize, and call her a dork, and then continued, "It's my only memento of my wife."

"Oh, you're married?"

The dark haired mercenary's gaze went to the ground. "I was married. I'm not anymore..."

Colette gasped, "Oh, I'm sorry! Did she leave you?"

He sighed softly, "No, she died protecting me. I got careless on a job, and was almost killed, but she took the blow for me, and didn't survive. And please, don't apologize for asking about it, its okay, really."

The blonde girl could tell that he wanted to talk about it, so she gave him the chance, "What was she like?"

"Well, actually she was a bit like you. She was caring, and she tended to take other people's problems as her own, she also was always willing to help a friend and never left them unless she was forced to. Her name was Anju."

"Oh, she sounds like a very nice person. I bet I would have loved to meet her."

Linus smiled inwardly at the weirdness of the conversation, "Yeah, I think she would have liked to meet you too, Chosen."

Then, Colette did something he didn't expect, "Please, Linus, call me Colette. I don't like being called by my title."

He grinned outwardly at this, "Okay, no problem Colette."

It was then he heard the voice he had been expecting all morning, Raine's voice at seeing Genis. "Genis!? What are you doing here?"

"Sis, I can't explain right now, we have to go! Lloyd's in trouble!"

Raine got him to calm down, and then explain what was going on. After that, everyone started to head towards the "Desian" base to rescue Lloyd.

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Okay, today, no backstory. Instead, I'm going to tell you how I originally planned to have Linus come in: He was supposed to have made it to Iselia, and seen the Oracle's light from in the village and head towards the temple. He was going to rush up the stairs alongside Kratos, and block an attack from Vidarr's backup, a renegade using a katana. During the fight, he was going to shout, "If you're going to fight, fight!" and toss a pack of energy tablets to Lloyd. From there, he would have agreed to protect Colette, and joined the group in Iselia.

Well? What do you think? Different, no?

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Anyways, I wanted to just put this out there, but if anyone reading this wants to like, I dunno, draw a picture of Linus, I'd appreciate that, as I have no drawing skills whatsoever. Not ordering anything, just a request. On another note, what do you think of the backstory bits? Too dark maybe? Ah well. Until next time!

Scorch the Hedghog


	5. Chpt 4 Rescuing Yourself

Well, here again we come together for the next chapter of ToS: Dark Future, Bright Past.

Disclaimer: I only own Linus and his moves. Not ToS, it belongs to Namco.

Three reviews this time! Keep it up!

PinkPenguin18: Thanks for the compliment. As for Linus' dialogue with the other characters, well, like father like son. And yes, I'm being a bit cruel to Kratos right now, but it'll all be good in the end... unless I decide otherwise.

freakyanimegal456: Good! Curiosity means that it caught your attention!

sliver of time: Thanks! You're awesome too for reviewing and I'll keep the backstory coming!

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**Chapter Four:** Rescuing yourself...

Linus had always hated the desert. It wasn't the sand or the monsters; no it was the heat that bothered him. It always had, and probably always would, so he decided to ignore it, and try to talk to his "old" best friend. He slid up next to Genis quietly, and tried to start a conversation. "So, I'm going to assume that you're related to Raine, right?"

Genis started at the sudden question and realized that he didn't actually recognize the man next to him. However, the more he looked at him, the more he thought he'd seen him somewhere, in passing maybe. "Yes, Raine is my older sister. Um, I don't actually know your name..."

Linus looked sheepish, "Oh, my bad. I'm Linus, Linus Irel. I joined this group at my own request a day before we arrived at Triet. Anyway, do you know where the Desians took your friend?"

"Yes, they took him to a large base out in the desert. I'm sure that Lloyd's in there."

Linus looked ahead and saw the large mountain that the base was by, "So, your friend's name is Lloyd, hm?" He saw Genis about to answer, and quieted him. "Is that the place where you were taken?" He pointed in the direction of the mountain. Genis nodded, and the group moved closer together.

Kratos was the one to put a plan together, "Okay, seeing as we're going to break into a heavily guarded base, we should try for a stealth approach, agreed?"

Linus nodded, "You're right, it'd be a good idea not to get the entire base on high alert. Let's look for a back way in or something."

After five minutes of searching, it was Colette who found the way in. To everyone's dismay, she found it by tripping and hitting a switch, which caused a loud alarm to sound.

She gasped at hearing the alarm, "Oh no, I'm sorry everyone!"

The group moved in, oddly not encountering anyone in the hallway they were going down.

Linus glanced around, "It's too quiet here. Where is everyone?"

Kratos made a motion for him to keep moving and they passed through the door at the end of the hall to see Lloyd facing off with Botta.

Lloyd stared at them, "Colette, everyone, how'd you get in here?"

Linus noticed one of the soldiers going for a hit from behind at Lloyd and snapped, "Hey! Keep your mind on the fight!" With that, he rushed the soldier as Lloyd blocked the thrust aimed at his back.

The battle started in earnest, with Lloyd and Linus quickly letting Colette deal with one soldier close up and Genis take the other out with some well placed fireballs. Meanwhile Lloyd, Linus and Kratos attacked Botta. Kratos had just been knocked back by Botta's Rock Breaker attack, and Linus saw a chance to try something. He looked over at Lloyd, "Hey, kid, you want to finish this battle fast?"

Lloyd jumped back to avoid another attack from Botta's huge sword, then said, "How would we do that?"

Linus grinned, "Follow after me!" With that, he charged Botta with Lloyd following him, blocked Botta's sword with the guard on his arm, and then lunged quickly, shouting, "Repeater Thrust!", and, to Lloyd's surprise, pulled off a one handed Sword Rain. Lloyd followed the assault up with a Sonic Thrust, wounding the Renegade lieutenant, who collapsed to one knee. Kratos, who had finished helping Colette with the foot soldier she'd been dealing with, tried to get in a finishing blow.

The half-elf jumped back, staggering, "Damn, retreat for now!" With that, he and other Renegades who had entered the room backed out, locking the door behind him.

The Chosen's group had all stopped after the fight, and everyone had come down off the adrenaline. That was when Linus tried to talk to "himself." He walked up to the red clad teen, and tried to start a conversation, "Hey, kid, just who are you anyway?"

Lloyd glared at the man, and used his favorite phrase, "Give me your name, and I'll give you mine!"

Linus could see how his old phrase would be seen as arrogant now, but answered, "I'm Linus Irel, and I'm helping Colette on her journey. Now, I've given you my name, so what's yours?"

Lloyd glared at the man, as something was really eating him about the dark haired mercenary, but he had given his name, so, "I'm Lloyd Irving, one of Colette's friends."

Linus nodded, "Well, it's nice to meet you. We should start heading back to Triet before night falls, it can get extremely cold in the desert at night."

Lloyd glared at him, still wondering why the guy felt so familiar, but nodded in assent with the idea, "Yeah, I'm pretty hungry too; we didn't get anything to eat before those Desians jumped us."

That was the perfect thing for Lloyd to say... if he wanted to get jumped by a pissed off Raine that is. She had been fine to just help Lloyd get out, but now that the battle was over, she was mad, as the rest of the group could see. Linus tuned out Raine's lecture (read: rant) over Lloyd's behavior, instead focusing on one fact he'd overlooked before: he had bumped into Lloyd earlier, shouldn't that have caused some kind of destruction of the universe or something? Maybe Gene's spell had something to do with it... he'd have to think about it later, as Raine had finished and the group was heading out back to Triet, planning to head to the Fire Seal tomorrow, and he was actually looking forward to that.

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Hey, sorry I haven't updated in a while, I had really bad writer's block in the middle of the chapter. Anyway, here's the backstory for today:

_The following is an excerpt from a document found in the abandoned Renegade base near Flanoir._

Final entry, date: [here there is a smear, probably due to the haste in which it was written], 5 A.R. Today is the last day of the Renegades; we are going into hiding to stay safe and to help the others elsewhere who need more than we do. This is mainly due to the loss of Lord Yuan, which has demoralized our troops heavily. It happened less than two days ago, on a routine scouting mission. A stealth squad was found out, and Lord Yuan left to assist them alongside a squad of troopers trained in fighting alongside him. It was an ambush. Apparently, one of our men had sold out to the demons and betrayed us, leading Lord Yuan into their trap, the unscrupulous ass. I didn't actually see the fight, but from what the survivors said, Lord Yuan managed to defeat most of them, and hold off the rest to his squad could escape. I hope I'll be able to write again, but the infirmary needs to be packed and moved, so that's all for now.

End of entry, written by Rhea Harken, head of medical procedures

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Well, here's another bit, and for the record, Rhea will appear in the story eventually. Well, that's all for now, so click the review button and tell me how it was.

Until next time, and Happy New Years,

Scorch the Hedgehog


	6. Chapter 5 The First Seal

Here it is: the next chapter of ToS: Dark Future, Bright Past. Sorry about the wait, I really pissed off my parents and lost computer privliges… heh… ^_^'

Disclaimer: I only own Linus and his moves. Everything else is Namco's.

Yahoo! More reviews, thanks all of you guys!!!

Nothung: Thanks dude! I will keep it up!

Freakyanimegal: Same to you! And you are correct in saying that you aren't one to talk, are you? Not to be rude or anything, though...

StarGuy: Maybe I should make them longer... anyway, you send a PM by going to the person's profile, and clicking the "send message" button. Anyway, for the pictures, just go for it!

Aion 13: Gotcha. Here you go!

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**Chapter Five: **The First Seal

Linus was a light sleeper, a habit that had developed from the life he'd lived through the last few years, and he could tell when Kratos had left the room. He then heard Lloyd sneak down the stairs after him, and had a thought of his own. He walked out of the room, and climbed the stairs to the roof and stood there, remembering his past, before it had gone to a literal hell. His honeymoon with Col-no, Anju had started here, when they had traveled all of Aselia. He closed his eyes and smiled softly, thinking of all the good times they'd had. He then heard foot steps behind him, and spun to see Raine standing behind him.

He raised an eyebrow, "Raine? Why are you up here at this time of night?"

She gave him the same look, "I could ask you the same thing."

The dark-haired man laughed and said, "Well, you've got me there. I was just thinking about some things that happened a while back. This was where I started my honeymoon with my wife, Anju. I have lots of good memories from this town."

Raine nodded, "Yes, Colette told me that you had been married. I'm sorry for your loss."

Linus shook his head, "No, it's fine. Like I told Colette, don't apologize for it."

Raine still looked a bit mortified, "Anyways, we should probably both get to bed, we're going to release the first seal tomorrow."

Linus nodded, "Yeah, you're right. Good night Raine." With that, he walked back to his room, and laid back down in his bed, praying silently that his dreams wouldn't haunt him with bad memories again.

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It had been about one hour since the group had left Triet, and the Chosen's group had finally arrived at the Fire Temple. To all their dismay, they were attacked the minute they got to the ruins. The floating orbs, Raine had called them fire elementals, but to Lloyd, all they were was a pain. The group had managed to take down all but one, but the straggler continually managed to move away and narrowly avoid their attacks. Lloyd, who had been attacking it from the start, was getting tired of chasing it around, managed to knock it back with a wild swing, but left himself wide open for a counter attack, and the elemental was going to exploit it.

As the fireball was heading towards Lloyd, he saw Linus motioning for him to drop to the ground. As he did so, he heard Linus shout, "Shine Blast!" and saw a white crescent shoot over his head and break the red sphere in half.

He looked over at Linus, giving him a gesture that could have been either thanks or a sign that said, "I could have done that myself!"

Linus stared at him and said, "Hey Lloyd, you need to be more careful. You could have gotten burned."

This time, he could tell the expression simply by Lloyd's shout of, "HEY! I don't need your help! I was fine!"

Kratos cut off any retort that Linus might have given with, "Lloyd, he's right; you could have been badly wounded. Don't you know any kind of guard ability?"

Linus could see the vein twitching on Kratos' forehead as everyone in the group except him shook their heads, and could almost hear the anger in his voice as he said, "Very well, then it seems it falls to Linus and myself to teach you."

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One short lesson later, everyone had learned their respective Guardian-style techs, and were approaching the ruins, when Raine noticed the entryway that sealed off the ruins.

Linus could see the ruin mania building up in her eyes, and tuned out of the conversation right as she started up her rant, only coming back into conscious thought once the door had been opened. After that, the group entered the scorched ruins, with everyone; Linus included staring in awe at the inside of the ruins.

The ruins were striking, even destroyed, and Linus was still awestruck even after having seen them once. The problem with this was that he had forgotten about was the Mimic that was hiding at the end of the hall. So, he forgot to warn Colette not to touch the chest until she was about to open it.

Genis was the one to realize what it was, and shouted, "Colette, get away from that, it's a mimic!" He then started casting fireball, as Kratos, Linus, and Lloyd rushed in.

The mimic, despite not looking it, was extremely powerful for an enemy of the ruins, but it fell quickly under four blades, two chakram, and a barrage of fireballs. The fake chest let out a screech as it fell in half, two apple gels and an orange gel rolling out of it. Raine picked up the three glass bottles and put them in the pack with the other gels they had bought back in Triet.

After the surprise encounter, the rest of the temple went smoothly, and the group arrived at the Fire Seal with no real problems from the monsters wandering the halls. They arrived in the seal room, which felt like the hottest room in the temple. Linus could feel himself sweating under his jacket, and could see Lloyd doing the same. As they moved closer to the seal, Linus felt the mana in the air increasing, and began moving his hand towards his sword.

Raine, having noticed this, looked at him and whispered, "What are you doing? This is a holy place!"

Linus gave her a pointed look, and then said quietly, "This place, something's wrong about it. I just can't tell what…"

As he was finishing his sentence, Genis shouted, "Look out! Something's coming out of the seal!"

The second Genis had finished talking; Kutagh and its Kutaghlings had begun attacking.

The group immediately moved to attack the monsters, with Lloyd and Colette attacking one Kutaghling, Kratos and Genis attacking the other, and Linus ended up facing off with the main beast, as Raine stayed back to heal.

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(Lloyd and Colette's fight)

Lloyd had immediately drawn the new swords he'd found in the ruins, and charged the monster closest to him. He swung his swords, making sure to keep the thing from touching him, executing a series of four hits, and followed it with Sword Rain. However, he couldn't avoid being burned on his left hand.

Colette ran towards him, throwing both her chakram at the Kutaghling, which bought Lloyd enough time for him to continue the attack, but the chakram both flew off in different directions after glancing off the monster's spines. So, she had to move back near Raine, where she had to stay back, looking more than a little depressed that she couldn't do anything, as Lloyd finished the monster off.

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(Kratos and Genis' fight)

Kratos and Genis both moved cautiously towards the other Kutaghling, and began casting spells, Kratos was casting Wind blade, while Genis cast Aqua Edge. Both spells hit, right as the Kutaghling was about to hit Genis.

Kratos pushed Genis back, saying, "Genis, get back and continue casting spells. I'll keep its attention off you." With that, he lunged forward with a Sonic Thrust, as Genis began casting Aqua Edge. Between Kratos' expert swordsmanship, and Genis' spell casting, the second Kutaghling fell quickly.

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(Linus vs. Kutagh)

Linus stared at the main seal guardian, wondering just how he had ended up fighting it all alone. He sighed, "I got the short straw here it seems. I guess I'll have to make the best of it; it might be good to test my skills against a real enemy, rather than just roving bandits." He then began circling the monster, looking for an opening, and when the beast put down its head and fired the needles on its head at him, he dashed in from the side, and hit it hard with Repeater Thrust, then kept on its side and continued attacking it, but got swatted away by the tail after the first three attacks.

He caught himself on the tail, and moved over it, stabbing the beast in the back twice, and followed with a Demon Fang, but then saw that the monster had managed to charge up an Eruption spell, which exploded beneath him.

Linus hit the ground, and slid back, but pushed himself into a back flip to land on his feet. He moved closer to the monster again, and began the pattern of circling it again. However, this one ended differently, Kratos and Genis joined in after having killed their Kutaghling and rushed over to back up the dark haired swordsman. Even between all three of them though, Kutagh managed to both weather the attacks and beat them back. Then, out of the blue, Colette came in with a flurry of chakram attacks, knocking back the beast and leaving it open to a string of blows from Lloyd, the end of which finished off Kutagh.

The seal's guardian went down with a final scream, and the seal opened with a hiss and a burst of steam.

As the group began to calm back down, the words rang out, "You have done well, Colette. Now, offer your prayers at the seal."

As she did this, Linus retreated back into his own thoughts, but made sure to look interested in seeing Colette become an angel again, though he did have to repress a minor urge to kill Remiel now and save them the trouble later.

He repressed the urge quickly and thought about the rather poorly fought battle he'd just had, 'I was right, I have gotten rusty. I may not need all my skills right away, but not being able to handle the Fire seal's guardian is just pitiful. I guess living in this world after so long really has deteriorated my abilities some… It's no matter though, the journey should help. And, it might be fun to help train everyone to help prepare them for what is coming. It's obvious that Lloyd needs help with defense and, wait a minute… That's not the Angelus Exsphere! Why doesn't he— he couldn't have lost it, could he? Or… did he never get it from Mo—Anna? No, she wouldn't want to keep it, after it almost killed her, would she? I'll just have to wait and see, I guess.'

He then noticed that he had followed the group while he was thinking, and they were nearing the exit. He sped up slightly, getting ready to make sure that Colette would be okay when she collapsed.

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[Camp outside the fire seal]

The camp had been set up without too many problems, besides Colette collapsing due to her "trial." Linus decided then to try and call attention to Lloyd's exsphere.

He called out at him, "Hey Lloyd, why were you hiding your exshpere under those bandages? Wait, I get it. You were trying to trick enemies into thinking that you were weaker than you really are, huh? Pretty smart."

Genis heard this, looked at Lloyd's hand, and nearly yelled, "Lloyd, where's your normal exsphere!? Did those Desians take it from you?"

Lloyd looked a little sheepish, and then replied, "Don't worry about it, I didn't lose it or anything. You remember how the Desians in Iselia wanted my exsphere, right? Well, to throw them off, I took it out and put in a normal exsphere that I got off a Desian we killed. Then, I left my normal one at home with Mom so that even if they get me, they won't get the exsphere! Pretty smart, huh?"

Raine, at the end of Lloyd's "brilliant" plan had started to walk over, and looked like she was building up a big lecture, when Linus cut her off, "Raine, please allow me to explain the problem here."

Linus walked up to Lloyd, his face completely neutral, stopped in front of him and said, "Lloyd, let me see if I've got this straight. Your exsphere is different from most, and the Desians want to get it for some reason, right?"

Lloyd quickly nodded, "Yeah, that's right, but I don't know why."

Linus then said, "And they're willing to attack a town to get it?"

Lloyd shrugged, "Well, they were already attacking the town, but they said that they 'wouldn't stop coming after me as long as I had the exsphere."

Linus nodded, remembering how Forcystus had said that to him, and then said, "One more thing Lloyd. Does your mother know how to fight at all?"

Lloyd looked nonplussed at that question and said, "Ah, I don't think so… or at least not very well. Dirk can fight a little though, but why do you ask?"

At this point, Linus looked a little less calm, as his eyes were in a glare that was slight, but noticeable enough to be scary, and his voice had an edge to it when he said, "So Lloyd, you left an exsphere that the Desians will consistently attack to get with a woman with little to no combat experience. That leaves me with one final question: Are you trying to kill your mother?"

The entire rest of the camp looked shocked at this question, and Lloyd especially looked horrified at even the thought, as he yelled, "What the hell does that mean!? Of course not! Why would you even think I would want to hurt her!?"

Linus' voice was still even, but also still had the edge to it as he said, "Because, as I just said, you left a woman with no fighting ability with an object Desians are most likely willing to kill for!"

Lloyd had obviously realized this as Linus said it, and had gone white. Also, though only Linus noticed, Kratos had gone a few shades paler as well. Lloyd, panicked now, said, "We need to go back then, we can go and get the exsphere and—"

Linus cut him off there, saying, "No, we can't go back. By this point, if they know she has it, they've already got it. We just have to keep going, and deal with them when the regeneration journey takes us near there."

Lloyd was furious at that, and yelled, "You bastard! She's my mom; I won't just leave her alone if the Desians have got her!"

At this, Linus finally seemed to snap, as he roared back, "If they do have her, then there's nothing we can do!! If they have her, she's most likely already dead! And you know what Lloyd? It's your fault! If you knew that it was dangerous, you shouldn't have gotten a civilian involved, especially your mother!! If she dies Lloyd, it's no one's fault but yours!!"

With that, Linus turned and walked away from the fire, leaving Lloyd looking hurt, and the rest of the group stunned.

As he walked away though, Linus thought to himself, 'Damn, I overdid it. I shouldn't have let my feelings get involved; hell, I shouldn't have gotten involved at all! I'll have to find a way to make amends now, but it'll be hard with the lines I just crossed.'

With those thoughts, he had sat down under a tree outside the light of the fire, and he knew that he would either not be able to sleep, or have the nightmares again tonight.

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Well, that's the longest chapter I've written so far! Also, no background info this chapter… Sorry!

On Linus' rant: Linus is pissed because 1: it's his mom as well whose in danger, 2: he hates seeing civilians put in danger at all, and 3: He just ended up letting old emotions get a hold on him for a second, but he will make amends, eventually.

One more thing: I'm really sorry it's been so long, I got banned, then right as I got unbanned and writing again, I got banned again! Really sorry, but updates will come faster now, I promise!

Thanks,

Scorch the Hedgehog


	7. Information

Hey all, this is a solemn announcement by me, Scorch the Hedgehog.

I'm gonna revamp this story. My muse for all of my stories has been dead for a long time, and in rereading what little my story has, I'm sorely disappointed.

So, remaking.

Yeah.

If I can find a good beta reader, that can only help, so if anyone who wants to help sees this, just pm me.

That's all, and thanks for putting up with my sorry ass,

Scorch the Hedgehog


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